There may be many parents in Texas who are fearful that their child could be kidnapped. That is why we teach kids not to speak to strangers and why we may keep a closer eye on them if we see someone suspicious in the area. But in too many cases involving kidnapping, the person who ends up unlawfully taking a child away from a parent is no stranger at all.
In some instances, it is the other parent who abducts a child and takes them away. Often, these moms and dads are involved in a bitter divorce and the custody of the children is split between them. But instead of complying with court orders and adhering to custody or visitation schedules, some parents will take matters into their own hands and take the children away. In some cases, they leave the country altogether, making it very difficult for the other parent to know what to do.
This is the very situation one woman is struggling through. She says that her three children were taken to Saudi Arabia by her estranged husband without her consent. The kids were with their father before Thanksgiving and that was the last time the mother saw them.
Now the mother is working to try and get her children back. But this is proving to be very difficult, especially because the children were taken to Saudi Arabia. She fears going there to get her children because it could be extremely difficult to secure the visa she would need to leave the country. And because the U.S. and Saudi Arabia do not have extradition treaties with each other, there may be little that law enforcement can to do try and force the man to return the children to their mother. However, the mother has not given up hope. She is continuing to work on ways to get her children back and believes that her most recent efforts will result in being reunited with her children.
International abductions like this one can be devastating for parents in the U.S. to cope with and it can be very difficult to know what to do in order to resolve a dispute. Those who may be in a similar situation to the woman discussed in this post may want to speak with an attorney who understands parental kidnapping cases and the challenges of international or interstate custody matters.
Source: The Patriot-News, “Mother of kidnapped boys has hope after visit to Saudi consulate,” John Beauge, Jan. 14, 2014